#charitable-giving
Charitable Giving
Donation strategies, tax-deductible contributions, and qualified charitable organizations
Donor-Advised Funds for Small Business Owners: Timing Charitable Giving Under the 2026 Rules
Starting in 2026, itemized charitable deductions only count above a 0.5%-of-AGI floor, while the new non-itemizer deduction excludes donor-advised funds. This guide shows small business owners how to respond — bunching several years of giving into one high-income year, donating appreciated stock to avoid capital gains, and using the 60%/30% AGI limits and five-year carryforward around a business sale.
Church Fund Accounting: How to Manage Restricted and Unrestricted Funds
An estimated $86 billion is lost to fraud inside churches worldwide each year, and most of it starts with one bookkeeping mistake — treating restricted and unrestricted funds as one pool. This guide explains how FASB ASC 958 classifies donor-restricted gifts, the three errors that get church treasurers in trouble, and the monthly habits that keep ministry books compliant and transparent.
When a Charity Becomes a Coffee Shop: The Operational Test Lessons of Milk Saving Starving Children Foundation v. Commissioner
In T.C. Memo. 2026-1, the Tax Court upheld the IRS's revocation of a Pennsylvania charity's 501(c)(3) status after it ran a cash-only café and rented storefronts while spending $0 of its $26,447 in 2018 income on its stated mission of feeding starving children. Here's how the operational test works — and a self-audit checklist to keep your nonprofit's books mission-honest.
Jones Bluff v. Commissioner: Why LLC Members Get No Seat at the Table in a BBA Partnership Audit
In Jones Bluff, LLC v. Commissioner (166 T.C. No. 6, March 2026), the Tax Court dismissed a Fifth Amendment due-process challenge to the BBA centralized partnership audit regime on standing and ripeness grounds — confirming that individual partners get no notice or hearing rights during an entity-level audit. Here's how the regime works, who qualifies for the small-partnership election-out, and what LLC members should fix in their operating agreements before an audit starts.
Jones Bluff v. Commissioner: What the BBA Partnership Audit Ruling Means for Your Multi-Member LLC
In Jones Bluff, LLC v. Commissioner (166 T.C. No. 6, March 2026), the U.S. Tax Court rejected a due process challenge to the BBA centralized partnership audit regime, ruling partnerships lack standing to assert individual partners' rights. Here's what multi-member LLCs should do — from vetting the partnership representative to the 45-day push-out election and electing out of BBA.
Piton Holdings v. Commissioner: How a $41.6 Million Easement Deduction Shrank to $800,000 — and What Partnerships Should Learn
In Piton Holdings, LLC v. Commissioner (July 2026), the Tax Court cut a $41.6 million conservation easement deduction to $800,000, upheld the 40% gross valuation misstatement penalty, and voided $40.3 million in allocations to investors whose money arrived after the donation was recorded — two lessons on defensible appraisals and mid-year partner timing that apply to any LLC.
Young America's Foundation v. IRS: What the Schedule B Donor-Disclosure Lawsuit Means for 501(c)(3)s
On July 13, 2026, Young America's Foundation sued the IRS to stop mandatory Schedule B donor disclosure for 501(c)(3)s, citing the Littlejohn data breach and the Supreme Court's exacting-scrutiny standard from Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta. Here is what the case argues, why the IRS's 2020 exemption for 501(c)(4)s matters, and how nonprofit bookkeepers should tighten donor records now.
The New Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (ECCA): What Small Business Owners Should Know Before 2027
The Educational Choice for Children Act creates a $1,700 federal income tax credit for cash donations to K-12 Scholarship Granting Organizations, starting with the 2027 tax year — but only in states that opt in. Here is how the nonrefundable, cash-only Section 25F credit works, the five-year carryforward, the 90% pass-through rule for SGOs, and why pass-through business owners should track their state's participation through 2026.
Professional Organizer Bookkeeping: Package Pricing, Client Property Liability, and Why the Donation Deduction Isn't Yours
A bookkeeping guide for professional organizers covering how to book package deposits and maintenance retainers as unearned revenue, the insurance clients expect (general liability, E&O, workers' comp — roughly $1,500–$3,000/year), why the Goodwill donation deduction belongs to the client rather than the organizer, and when a day helper must be classified W-2 instead of 1099.
One Missing Sentence Cost a Donor a $4.4 Million Charitable Deduction — What Wells v. Commissioner Requires of Your Acknowledgment Letter
In Wells v. Commissioner (2026), the Tax Court disallowed a $4.42 million charitable deduction for donated real estate because the charity's acknowledgment letter was undated and never stated whether the donors received goods or services in return — Section 170(f)(8) demands strict, not substantial, compliance. The 20% accuracy penalty was abated only because the donors documented good-faith reliance on their CPA.
Program-Related Investments: How Private Foundations Recycle Charitable Capital
Program-related investments let a private foundation count loans, equity stakes, or guarantees toward its mandatory 5% annual payout, then reclaim the capital as it's repaid, but PRIs to non-charitable recipients trigger IRS expenditure-responsibility rules with a 20% excise tax and personal manager penalties for noncompliance.
Accepting Cryptocurrency Donations: A Nonprofit's Guide to Gift Acceptance, Valuation, and IRS Substantiation
Nonprofits accepting cryptocurrency gifts over $5,000 cannot rely on exchange prices for tax substantiation — IRS Chief Counsel Advice 202302012 requires a qualified appraisal, and ASU 2023-08 now mandates fair-value accounting for any crypto a nonprofit holds past the point of receipt.